Norwegian Sky Cruise Review by MKMKCT: Really Mediocre

Norwegian Sky

Overall Member Rating

Really Mediocre

Sail Date:
January 2012
Destination:
Bahamas
Embarkation:
Miami

We were 3 girlfriends traveling together, ages 27, 35, and 35.
We had a great time with each other because we had the mentality that we were on vacation, there to have fun and to enjoy each other's company. Because of that and NOT b/c of the services offered by Norwegian, we had a good time.

That said, I would not sail on this ship again. Here are the details:

THE ROOM & AMENITIES: Adequate. We had 3 of us in 1 room. It was small as expected but completely adequate as we were rarely in the room. The pull out sofa bed was not too uncomfortable, but when it was down you cannot walk from the other beds to the bathroom - you have to walk over the pullout, so keep that in mind. Shampoo was supplied in an attached container to the wall, but the body wash was basically water, despite us asking for some. ie, we had NO SOAP for the trip. They do not supply conditioner or lotion.
THE PILLOWS ARE RIDICULOUSLY FLAT. I don't understand why NCL doesn't upgrade More
them.

FOOD: Completely Mediocre to just plain bad. Definitely quantity over quality. We paid the $10 for the Italian restaurant one night and it was ok. Some of the same dishes can be found on the main dining room menu. The breakfast buffet was too crowded. One day they had an afternoon taco/nacho bar. That night, the nacho cheese showed up on the mushroom ravioli. GROSS. It reminded me of the quality of food you get in a bad chain restaurant. The 2 main dining rooms have the same food with different names, which is confusing (ex: Mushroom Quesadilla in one, Mushroom tortilla crisp with dip in the other - same dish!!) The last night we went to the buffet b/c we were tired of the bad dining room service and we found that to be the best option, although not necessarily "good."

SERVICE: TERRIBLE!! Freestyle dining means waitstaff don't have to work for their tips. They are cold, distant, and unknowledgable. Drinks we ordered never came, they didn't know the answers to questions about food and wine. Service was unbelievably slow. Info desk people didn't know information about the ports. Overall, very frustrating.

CASINO: Unusable b/c of the cigarette smoke. The casino should be non smoking if they want to appeal to more customers.

PORTS: Ports were the best part of the trip. In Freeport we went to Tino (sp?) beach ($7 cab ride per person, $7 for beach entry including chair; $3 for umbrella) . Nice although loud from the music the restaurant blasts. In Nassau we took a cab ($18 total for 3 of us) to the Sheraton where we bought day passes ($25 each, includes towels and chair) and had a lovely, relaxing day on the beach. An excellent choice and much cheaper than the cruise ship excursions. Great Stirrup Cay was nicer than I thought it would be, although very windy. No problems getting a lounge chair. The Cabanas cost $30 which is RIDICULOUS.

THE CROWD: Old!! Probably b/c it was right after the holidays and a Monday-Friday cruise. But not for us. There did not appear to be other groups of single people our age.

ENTERTAINMENT: eh, just ok.

In closing, we had a good time b/c we wanted to and kept a good attitude. However, if we were to do another cruise I would pay more for a nicer ship or higher end cruiseline. This one definitely had a 2.5 - 3 star vibe to it. You get what you pay for. The rates on Sky are cheap for a reason. Less

Port and Shore Excursions

PORTS: Ports were the best part of the trip. In Freeport we went to Tino (sp?) beach ($7 cab ride per person, $7 for beach entry including chair; $3 for umbrella) . Nice although loud from the music the restaurant blasts. In Nassau we took a cab ($18 total for 3 of us) to the Sheraton where we bought day passes ($25 each, includes towels and chair) and had a lovely, relaxing day on the beach. An excellent choice and much cheaper than the cruise ship excursions. Great Stirrup Cay was nicer than I thought it would be, although very windy. No problems getting a lounge chair. The Cabanas cost $30 which is RIDICULOUS.

PORTS: Ports were the best part of the trip. In Freeport we went to Tino (sp?) beach ($7 cab ride per person, $7 for beach entry including chair; $3 for umbrella) . Nice although loud from the music the restaurant blasts. In Nassau we took a cab ($18 total for 3 of us) to the Sheraton where we bought day passes ($25 each, includes towels and chair) and had a lovely, relaxing day on the beach. An excellent choice and much cheaper than the cruise ship excursions. Great Stirrup Cay was nicer than I thought it would be, although very windy. No problems getting a lounge chair. The Cabanas cost $30 which is RIDICULOUS.